Young Oak Kim: “here we are again. It was just about a year ago that we stood here on the House floor, debating the Republican plan to…”

“here we are again. It was just about a year ago that we stood here on the House floor, debating the Republican plan to balance the Federal budget. By now, we are all familiar with what happened in that debate. In response to our attempt to balance the budget, Republicans were confronted with one of the most savage political attacks in the history of this country. We were called ``mean-spirited'', ``uncaring'', and ``extremist''. The American people were told that we didn't care about old people and that we wanted to starve innocent children. All of this despite the fact that our budget actually increased spending on Medicaid, Medicare, school lunches, student loans, and other programs that help the most vulnerable in our society. Fortunately, the Republican Congress weathered these desperate attacks and fulfilled its promise to pass a balanced budget bill. Unfortunately, President Clinton's veto made all of our efforts go for naught. But, as they say, ``if you don't succeed, try, try again''--and that is exactly what we are doing.”